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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27226177">Living in Someone Else's Footprints</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrismaPup7/pseuds/PrismaPup7'>PrismaPup7</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Struggles of Being a Clone [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Legend of Zelda &amp; Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>AU idea, Angst, Character Study, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, It'll make sense if you read, Major character death - Freeform, The LU boys don't appear until the end, also of sorts, of sorts, semi-happy ending, sorry in advance, what a shock, wow look Prisma made more Wild angst</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 20:55:56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,200</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27226177</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrismaPup7/pseuds/PrismaPup7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Link wasn't Link.</p><p>It had been a hard concept to grasp, and yet it all made sense.</p><p> </p><p>(A Linked Universe AU idea - or, at least, from my personal opinion.)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Struggles of Being a Clone [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2000020</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>107</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Living in Someone Else's Footprints</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Okay, since I love this piece of writing and don't want it to waste away in my docs, I decided to post it! I probably won't expand on this at all - I just thought it was an interesting concept, and wanted to explore it a little!</p><p>All right, I hope you enjoy! </p><p>Disclaimer: Linked Universe and the Legend of Zelda do not belong to me. All credit goes to Nintendo and jojo!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Link wasn't Link.</p><p>It had been a hard concept to grasp, and yet it all made sense. </p><p>When he'd first woken up in the Shrine, he'd felt confused and scared, in a body that <em>definitely</em> wasn't his and a world that was unfamiliar in every way. The horrible scars marring his entire left side held no hints to who he was supposed to be, and the female voice that roused him from his deep sleep didn't help him remember a thing.</p><p>According to her and the ghost king, he was supposed to be a mighty hero, destined to fight off a great evil that he had failed against one-hundred years ago. He didn't understand why it had to be him, but before he could ask, the old man had faded away into oblivion and the voice had gone silent, leaving him with countless questions, a rectangle containing powerful runes, and an uncompleted mission.</p><p>He'd gone to see the old woman, in the hopes that she might explain what was happening in a logical, coherent way. His hopes were dashed upon her long stories and cryptic words. She did not give sufficient answers to his questions; instead, she sent him off with the advice to track down the locations of pictures on the rectangle, so that he would regain his memories and become more prepared for his upcoming battle.</p><p>Disappointed and discouraged, he explored the vast land he'd found himself in, slowly but surely learning basic survival skills and discovering new things every day. He quickly found himself thriving in the wild, doing what he wanted with no repercussions and taking on fairly simple tasks from the locals.</p><p>The first memory he found was a random location in a forest. It was a depressing one, one where a distraut girl poured out her insecurities and guilt onto a young man, the sky crying along with her. The man looked remarkably similar to himself - why, he did not know. He only knew that the memory did not belong to him. He did not feel any different after coming back to himself, the sun shining down on his face once more.</p><p>He simply hooked the rectangle back onto his belt and moved on, the scene quickly flying from his mind.<br/>
After all, he'd only been a witness to the memory. He hadn't been a part of it at all.</p><p>As his journey progressed, he continued to receive the strange memories of the young man, but never any of his own. He witnessed a heartfelt exchange between the man and a Zora Princess, a confrontation by a pompous Rito, an exchange with a Gerudo chief, and even a brotherly bond with a cheery Goron.</p><p>And yet each memory he gained, each ghostly champion he met, only left him with a hollow pit in his stomach, instead of a feeling of realization like the old woman had claimed he'd feel.</p><p>He felt nothing for these strangers. They meant nothing to him.</p><p>So, he simply continued on his quest, pushing the memories to the back of his mind. He had new memories to make, and new people to meet. The adventures of the young man and the princess were the least of his concerns, when he still had to complete his own destiny and defeat the great evil that was plaguing the land.</p><p>Even the Master Sword felt unfamiliar in his hands. The giant tree had told him that he'd once wielded it a century ago, and yet it was as though he was holding it for the first time in his life. It was baffling.</p><p>When he finally made his way into the castle and slayed the Dark Beast, nothing really changed for him. Everything was still confusing, and the princess certainly didn't help matters. Here she was, asking if he remembered her, and he didn't have a clue how to answer. Yes, he did remember her, but only from someone else's memories.</p><p>He tried to explain this to her, but she only grew upset and claimed that he would understand someday, that eventually he'd accept the fact that <em>he</em> was the young man in those scenes from one hundred years ago.</p><p>But he wasn't.</p><p>He knew this now.</p><p>It was all made clear by the skeleton of a young man that resided in the waters of the Shrine, undisturbed and peaceful. Beautiful blue flowers blossomed from the cracks of the ancient structure, the vines creeping across the walls in silent reverence of the deceased hero.</p><p>The man, Link had been the true hero; not him. He was just a clone, created to finish what Link started all those years ago.</p><p>It was as simple as that.</p><p>So, after two months of the princess constantly trying to convince him into experiments to "fix" his brain, he ran off to live free in nature once more, unable to handle her incessant desire to bring her Link back. She just couldn't comprehend the fact that her knight was truly gone.</p><p>Four months later, he stumbled upon the camp of eight lost travelers, who claimed to be Heroes of Hyrule from both the past and the future. The one with the Master Sword extended an invitation for him to join them, to leave his Hyrule and explore other versions in search of dark monsters and an unknown force of evil.</p><p>He accepted, of course. Not because he thought of himself as a hero - after all, the true hero of his Hyrule was long dead. No, it was because he finally had the chance to escape the ideals that others had placed on him. Ever since the word had gotten out that Zelda was trying to track him down, rumors and gossip spread fast across the land, ruining his reputation as a generally nice guy.</p><p>The main ones that he'd heard were the claims that he was insane, or that he'd committed a horrible crime, or that he'd even been in league with the Calamity. None were true, of course, but many people were gullible enough to believe the lies. They began turning on him, chasing him off with threats if he came too close. Only a select few still believed in him, but they could do nothing without inciting the wrath of the princess.</p><p>Getting away from this once-wonderful, now-toxic land would be absolute heaven for him. No more worrying about the latest rumors, or whether he was too close to local settlements, or whether Zelda would manage to track him down and possibly fry his brain.</p><p>Yes, it was selfish to just let these people believe that he was an actual hero, but it was for his own survival. They needed his help, and he was willing to give it as long as he could escape. They didn't need to know about how he technically wasn't a real human being. They didn't need to know how he possessed the powers of old champions, all of whom he held no recognition of.</p><p>As soon as he nodded, the Master Sword began to glow, and then the man holding it announced that his new name was to be, "Wild."</p><p> And thus, Wild started the best adventure of his lifetime.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Please leave a comment if you liked it or would like to share your thoughts! I always appreciate it, and am open to constructive criticism!</p><p>Thank you for reading, and stay safe!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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